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Hosted by Books Are My Favorite and Best on the first Saturday of every month, this meme asks us to start with one title (Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld this month) and create a chain of bookish connections to see where it takes us. I’ve seen this around for a bit now and thought it looked like fun so I’m finally joining in! My chain goes from Rodham to Dissolution by C. J. Sansom.
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld: I haven’t read this, but it’s impossible to think of Hillary Rodham Clinton without thinking of some of her political rivals and allies. That led me to Barack Obama who wrote…
The Audacity of Hope. I personally admire Obama and love to hear him speak. Neil DeGrasse Tyson is another Black author who I think is a brilliant, fascinating speaker. He wrote…
The Sky is Not the Limit about his personal journey to become an astrophysicist. Astrophysics is also addressed in Bill Bryson’s book…
A Short History of Nearly Everything. Bryson covers a lot of scientific ground in this book, so he also touches on chemistry, which is the subject of Sam Keane’s book…
The Disappearing Spoon. Keane’s book is all about the periodic table of the elements. Robert Boyle was a scientist who defined the concept of an element pretty well. He was also a character in the historical novel…
An Instance of the Fingerpost, by Ian Pears. This book takes place just after Oliver Cromwell’s republic collapsed. Speaking of political Cromwells…
Dissolution by C. J. Sansom features Thomas Cromwell as a bit of a behind-the-scenes puppet master.
And that’s my chain of logic! Where do your connections take you? Link up at Books Are My Favorite and Best!
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22 Comments
Great post! I love listening to both Barack Obama and Neil deGrasse Tyson speak. I’ve enjoyed audiobooks by both of them—though different ones than you listed, so I’ll have to check these out, too!
I haven’t listened to audiobooks by either Obama or Tyson. I’m sure I would enjoy them though. I’ll have to listen to future books! Thanks for the recommendation!
You’re welcome! I enjoy listening to both of them speak.
Clever clever! This is one of the cleverest links I’ve seen. Awesome! I love Bill Bryson.
Hope you enjoy Six Degrees of Separation. This is only my second month and the second time that I am late….
6 Degrees of Separation Sep 2020
Thanks! Better late than never! What’s a few days when you’re talking about good books?
Great work. Obama did a few things that angered me, but overall he was an excellent president and never a whiff of extramarital stuff. I guess having your mother-in-law live in the White House helps! I admire Barrack and Michelle.
I think having your mother-in-law nearby would definitely put a hamper on any *ahem* romantic inclinations! 🙂 I do like the Obamas.
That’s a great chain. I love Dissolution and the other books in the Shardlake series.
I do enjoy the Shardlake series. I might be one or two behind, now that I think about it though.
Lovely to see new participants in Six Degrees! I am tempted by The Sky is not the Limit. Unfortunately, I’ve never heard Neil DeGrasse Tyson speak, but he has been a guest at “The Infinite Monkey Cage”, my favourite science podcast, a couple of times. Great chain and I always enjoy seeing popular science books in these chains.
I’ve mostly heard Neil DeGrasse Tyson on talk shows but I like how thoughtful and coherent his answers are when so many people just seem to go on those shows just to shout louder than the other guests.
Welcome to Six Degrees! I am so glad you have joined in. Loved the way you put all your links together!
Thank you! I enjoyed thinking my chain through!
I’m so glad you decided to join in. Really interesting chain, with far more non-fiction than we usually see. Good for you!
I used to avoid nonfiction like the plague but I purposefully started incorporating more of it in my reading about 10 years ago. I’ve noticed lately that I find myself reading and recommending more and more of it.
Cleverly done, thanks for sharing your chain
Thank you!
Great chain – I liked the scientific connections. I’m looking forward to reading An Instance of the Finger Post.
I was much younger when I read An Instance of the Fingerpost and my tastes have changed a lot since then. I found it a bit boring but then the ending has stuck with me through a lot of intervening years. I should go back and re-read it some time.
I agree. Dissolution is a great read. And I heard some of the Bryson serialised on the radio and enjoyed it. Now all I have to do is follow through your other suggestions!
I can’t say that I’ve enjoyed all of Bryson’s books that I’ve read, but he’s been more hit than miss, I have to say. He’s had me crying with laughter more than once! He usually narrates his own audiobooks and I enjoy those as well. Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve never got into audio books. Perhaps I should …